Libellés

Friday, September 14, 2012

Paparazzi!

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to go to a fantastic exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo (and drink a glass of Roederer Champagne!). What was it about? Stolen photos, taken by two famous French paparazzi: Bruno Mouron and Pascal Rostain who met and worked at Paris Match magazine for a long time, before creating their own agency. In France - and probably everywhere - stolen photos of famous people ("Les Pipoles", as some people call them here!) - are highly controversial. But when you look at them at an exhibit, years after they were taken, they have a different flavor. I could not help, but being inspired by the theme of the evening... so I took a "paparazzi" photo to! If my French visitors look carefully, they will see a... "pipole" in this photo!

21 comments:

I don't recognize any of the real people in this shot of yours, though that does look like Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin (my friends and neighbors à l'époque) in the photo. You are a kind of paparazzo yourself—but only in a good way!

My guess : this may be the French director (and actor) Guillaume Canet, seen behind the camera, on the right of the photo...? I believe he is also the companion of Marion Cotillard, the actress who was awarded by an Oscar. They both are parents of a son named Marcel. But uh no I do not read the tabloids ... The strength of paparazzi uh, ...!And a question : is it really 'Jane and Serge' or rather Gainsbourg's last 'partner' (wife) called Bamboo, that we can see with him in the photo at the background?

@Drummond "Yes, I know, it seems to be pretty badly accepted in Britain... I'm sorry! (Even though I'm not responsible this time!)

@CN "And a question : is it really 'Jane and Serge' or rather Gainsbourg's last 'partner' (wife) called Bamboo, that we can see with him in the photo at the background?" Yes, you're right, it's NOT Jane Birkin, but Bamboo!

And finally... The answer! You won't know him if you're not French I'm sure: he is Christophe de Margerie, the head of Total, the big French oil company. You can see him right between Serge and Bamboo!

@Bradcatt Excellent, I live not far from there, email me when you're here and we'll have a coffee of something.

@Jeff. No it's illegal, but... it's a matter of money before all (like everything!!) : magazines who publish stolen photos get sued (like for example tonight we heard that the Kate and William said they would sue French magazine Closer for publishing photos of Kate top less).

But in the end, if the money you have to pay is less important than the money you make with the photos, well, it's worth it!

Also, there is a blurry line, between the right of information and violation of privacy. So in the end you never know what's going to happen.

Yep, that's capitalism, for better or for worse. If the legal punishment is less than the profit from breaking the law, then the money will rule. People who make money at it think it's great. Others may differ. Oh, it's all so confusing!